United News of Bangladesh

Two people were killed and two others injured in a road accident on Dinajpur-Phulbari road at Doulatpur in Chirirbandar upazila of Dianjpur district on Sunday. The deceased were identified as Delwar Hossain, 35, son of Aftab Uddin Molla  and Ishak, 60 of the upazila. Read: Commuter train derails in Dinajpur, loco master injured The accident occurred around 12 pm when a Dhaka-bound bus of ‘Shayamoli Paribahan’ hit a battery-run auto-rickshaw, leaving one dead on the spot and three others injured, said sub-inspector of Ambari Police camp Mintu. The injured were taken to Dinajpur M Abdur Rahim Medical College Hospital where doctors declared one of them dead. Police seized the bus.

A farmer was stabbed by his rivals over land dispute in front of Mallikbari of Sharankhola upazila headquarters in Bagerhat district on Saturday night. The victim is Sumon Hawladar, 35, son of Abdul Hawladar of the upazila. Quoting local people Saidur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Sharankhola Police Station, said Sumon and his cousins are at loggerheads over the ownership of a piece of land. As a sequel to the enmity, Sumon’s cousin swooped on him around 9 pm while he was returning home and stabbed indiscriminately, leaving him injured. READ: Bagerhat road crash leaves 4 dead They also severed the tendons of Sumon’s hands and legs. He was first taken to a local hospital from where he was shifted to Khulna Medical College and Hospital for better treatment. READ: Shopkeeper killed in Bagerhat

A fishing cat (Mecho Bagh) was trapped and captured from a farm in Sadullapur union of Matlab Uttar Upazila on Thursday night.  Poultry Farmer Nazim Uddin Chowdhury of Jamalpur village captured the fishing cat by setting up a trap in his yard after it had allegedly hunted several chickens, said forest officer Md. Habibur Rahman Faraji. On information, officials have been sent there to look after the matter, he added.  “It will be released on Sunday,” Faraji later announced. "Otherwise, if it has cubs, they will die”. Upazila Nirbahi Officer Gazi Shariful Hasan said, "Officially, there is no opportunity to raise wildlife at home.  It must stay in the forest and must be released. I'm looking into the matter. " It is the second fishing cat captured by Nazim's trap in 8 months. As with the first one, this one was handed over to the care of the Forest Department, for use in conservation research. With this, two fishing cats (Mecho Bagh) were captured from the farm.

Parents and students alleged the authority of Chhengarchar Government Model High School in North Matlab upazila of Chandpur of taking Tk 50 per Covid-19 vaccine jab to students. When asked, Benzir Ahmed, headmaster of the only government school in the area, even accepted the allegation saying, “To meet the many expenses of conducting the vaccine campaign from our school as a center we are taking Tk 50 from the students per jab.” Read: US donates additional 9.6 million Pfizer vaccine doses to Bangladesh Parents claimed some students had to pay more than Tk 50. There are 1,000 students currently enrolled in the school which indicates only from its own students the authority could collect Tk 50,000 in this regard. The government directed to vaccinate the school students on an emergency basis by January 31 to ensure the quality of education and their attendance in the schools amid a surge in the Covid-19 cases. Though the government is vaccinating the students free of cost, collecting money by the Chhengarchar Government Model High School authority has agitated the parents and concerned locals. Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 3,447 fresh cases with 7 more deaths However, Abdul Kayum Khan, Upazila Secondary Education officer told UNB he didn’t receive any complaint in this regard and will take actions after an inquiry. Meanwhile, Md Gias Uddin patwari, District Secondary Education officer also said he had no such information and will take administrative measures if it's true.  

After an 18-day high voltage campaigning Narayanganj City Corporation is all set to go to polls on Sunday with focus on who will be the next mayor. The electioneering officially ended on Friday midnight. Although seven candidates are running for the post of the NCC mayor, ruling party nominee Selina Hayat Ivy and her principal rival – Advocate Taimur Alam Khandaker, a veteran BNP leader   fighting as an independent candidate – have stolen all the attention. Election watchers are expecting a tight contest between them. Supporters of both candidates have conducted hectic electioneering. Also read: NCC poll: Electioneering ends with exchange of blows, allegations Besides 148 candidates are contesting for 27 ward councilors post while 38 women are contesting for conserved seats for women in the NCC polls. This time the NCC elections have 517,357 voters – including 257,519 females. As the candidates are trying to woo voters with promises, all the voters want is the development of their city. The candidates' qualifications, popularity, party symbol, gender, age, electronic voting machines (EVMs), and turnout could be the deciding factors this year. Women and youth are expected to play a pivotal role. All the heavyweight mayoral candidates are making last-minute efforts to win their votes. However, there are some 42,418 first-time voters. Whoever wants to win the election must bag a major chunk of the first-timers, according to popular perceptions.

The body of an unidentified youth was recovered from Dalia canal at Jotraghu village in Dinajpur district on Saturday, said police. Local people spotted the body floating in the canal and informed police who recovered it at noon, said Subrata Kumar Sarkar, Officer-in-charge of Chiribandar police station. Also read: Ex-DU professor’s body recovered in Gazipur, suspected killer arrested The youth’s body bore some injury marks and it will be sent for an autopsy on Sunday, he said. Meanwhile, three suspects were detained from Balapara village in Syedpur upazila later in the day, said OC Subrata Kumar. Also read: Woman's decomposed body found in Jashore school's septic tank

A Gazipur court placed mason Anwarul Islam on a three-day remand on Saturday in a case over the killing of former professor of Dhaka University Saida Gaffar. Gazipur Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court-2 Judge Mehedi Pavel Sweet passed the order after police produced the arrestee before it and sought a 10-day remand to interrogate him,said Dipankar Roy, sub-inspector of Kashimpur police station. Saida Gaffar, a former Professor of Institute of Nutrition and Food Science of the university, was found dead at Kashimpur in Gazipur on Friday, two days after she had gone missing. Also read: Killing of ex-DU teacher: Arrested mason remanded The professor was buried on Friday night at Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals Graveyard, said her family.

Two brothers were killed and two people  injured when a private car hit a tree near BSCIC Industrial area on Dhaka-Chattogram highway in Feni on Saturday. The deceased were identified as Biplob, 32, an assistant teacher of Mirsarai Sasarat Government Primary School and his brother Tushar, 40, an expatriate. Read: DMP bans carrying of arms, gathering around JS They were sons of Dinesh of Sasrat Banglabazar area of ​​Ichakhali union in Mirsarai upazila of Chattogram. Police said the private car carrying the two brothers rammed a tree when its driver lost control over the steering, leaving them dead on the spot. The driver and another passenger sustained injuries. Tushar went to Dhaka for treatment and the accident occurred while they were returning from there. Read: 6 robbers held in Cox’s Bazar Mohipal Highway Police inspector Zakir Hossain said that the bodies were sent to Feni General Hospital morgue.  

The Bangladesh government has warned that it'll be forced to impose a full lockdown in the country if people fail to adhere to the recently issued Covid-19 restrictions. "We urge all the people of this country to abide by the recently issued 11-point Covid-19 guidlines," Health Minister Zahid Maleque said on Saturday. "If these instructions are followed, there will be no need for a lockdown in the country. If another lockdown is imposed, people and the country will face losses again," he said. He, however, made it clear that the government could impose a complete lockdown in Bangladesh "if these guidelines are not followed". The Health Minister was talking to reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration function of a CT scan and Dialysis unit at Manikganj General Hospital in the morning. Amid the growing concern over the new Omicron variant of to coronavirus, the government on January 13 came out with the restrictions on movement of people and public transport vehicles. Read:Don’t leave your workplaces: Health Minister to expats

Fifteen people have been fined Tk 21,300 by a mobile court in Bagerhat on Thursday for violating hygiene rules. A total of five mobile courts operated in the district to ensure safety protocols among the dwellers. Besides, 13 cases were filed during this period, Bagerhat Assistant Commissioner and Executive Magistrate Azizul Kabir said Friday. Executive Magistrate Azizul Kabir on Thursday evening was seen operating mobile courts in different areas of Bagerhat town to enforce government restrictions where people were fined for not wearing masks. Read: Bagerhat road crash leaves 4 dead Free masks were also distributed during the campaign. However, people are reluctant to wear masks and to follow govt instructions imposed to contain the Omicron surge. Mmagistrates are running mobile courts to enforce restrictions. Vaccination certificates are not also checked in the restaurants. Meanwhile, many of them are unaware about the restrictions.